During the heyday of Tenochtitlan, the area now occupied by the National Palace, seat of the Federal Executive Power, and extending to the current building of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, was home to the New Houses of the tlatoani Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. It was a majestic place with temples, warehouses, courtyards, offices, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, a freshwater fountain from Chapultepec, and several doors leading to the public square and surrounding streets.

After the conquest, Hernán Cortés took ownership of this property along with others nearby. Upon his death, his heirs sold the property to the Spanish Crown in 1562 to be used as the viceroy's palace and seat of the Audiencia of New Spain.

After Mexico's declaration of independence in 1821, this building was transformed into the National Palace. Thus, from Tenochtitlan to the present day, this space has housed the political and economic power of the country, hence the importance of the remains displayed in the seven archaeological windows that visitors can see.

The last two windows are located in the east corridor of the Courtyard of Honor and show a room and two human skeletons lying on a stucco floor, as well as a section of Hernán Cortés' house, which later became the Viceroy's Palace. These remains consist of the remains of a flagstone floor and tetralobular column bases, which were part of Cortés' house (later the Viceroys' Palace) and delimited a courtyard measuring 26.70 m long by 26.40 m wide, as well as a 4.35 m wide corridor surrounding it. Excavations have identified evidence of a fire and destruction caused by a riot in 1692.

Source: Raúl Barrera Rodríguez, director of the Urban Archaeology Program